Forever and Always Happier Alternative Ending
by marehami
Summary: Keleficent and I recently wrote a sad alternative ending to Forever and Always so I decided to write a happier alternative ending
1. Chapter 1

Unable to handle the darkness that clouded her mind for a second longer, she popped all the pills in her mouth. She hesitated for a moment before swallowing. It was done.

"MABEL!"

Mabel whipped around to see Stan run up to her. Stan stared at the empty pill bottles in her hand and panicked. "Mabel…what did you do? What did you do?" even though he was terrified he tried to keep his tone as calm as possible. He knew the only way to save Mabel would be to have her tell him what happened, so that he could get her help.

Mabel put her hand over her mouth. It was like Stan broke her out of a trance she was in. What had she done? She was going to die.

She was going to die.

"Gr…Grunkle Stan…"

"Mabel…"

"Grunkle Stan…help me…"

Stan stared at her with his mouth agape unsure what to do.

"Grunkle Stan…Daddy…" Mabel tried to run into his arms but ended up stumbling. Stan caught her and brought her into a hug. She was already feeling sleepy. She was slipping away. "Daddy, help me, please. I don't wanna die."

"I'm gonna get you help Mabel, but you've gotta stay calm and answer my questions and do exactly what I say, how many of those pills did you take?"

Mabel dug her nails into Stan's jacket, clinging to him like she was clinging to life itself. "I finished the bottle! I just wanted the hurt to stop! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Daddy! Just don't let me die, please!"

"Baby…" The words were nothing more than a feeble choke as he tried to keep himself composed as much as possible.

He kept one arm around Mabel at all times, pressing her close to his body in an attempt to keep her warm as he dialed 9-1-1

Before the operator could even speak Stan's voice broke through, he struggled to communicate the urgency of the situation, while also maintaining a tone that wouldn't frighten his shaking daughter.

"Cemetery….Pines Family plot….Overdose…Sleeping pills….thirteen year old girl…..help….hurry," Stan explained as calmly but urgently as possible.

"Dispatching now sir, is she conscious?"

"So…so cold," Mabel whispered. The color was leaving her face and her lips were turning blue, her eyes were beginning to roll back in her head.

"Shh…baby help is on the way, just stay with us," Stan soothed as he wrapped his jacket around her and held her close, fighting the raging winds and snow flurries in an attempt to keep her warm.

"Sir?" the operator asked again.

"Yes, but please, you gotta hurry, please you've gotta help her!" Stan pleaded desperately.

"Try to keep her conscious and alert as best you can sir, help is on the way,"

Mabel was having trouble keeping her eyes open. "I'm so tired."

Stan squeezed her tight, "I know you are baby, but you've gotta stay awake for me, please….please fight for me," Stan whispered as tears began trickling down his face.

"I didn't want to die…I just wanted to stop hurting….I'm sorry daddy….I just wanted to be your daughter, but…but I know now you really won't want me," she whispered as she blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to rid them of sleep, while also trying to blink back the tears.

"shhh shhh oh baby I always wanted you, this is all my fault, I lied when I said all those horrible things to you tonight, I've never lied more in my whole life. You _are my daughter, and you always will be_ ….no matter what happens," Stan's voice cracked.

Mabel reached her shaking hand up to stroke Stan's face and wipe his tears, "I-I'm gonna fight," she whispered, "I want to live,"

Stan was still a nervous wreck and terrified, but hearing Mabel say that she wanted to live somehow provided him with faith that she _would live._

"I know you're gonna fight baby, you're my little fighter remember?" Stan assured giving her a tear filled smile.

Mabel was fighting with all her might, but she was rapidly losing her energy.

She started to close her eyes as Stan pleaded, "NO! No baby don't close your eyes! Please!"

At that moment the ambulance arrived with the sirens blaring and the lights flashing, it provided Mabel enough of a shock to crack her eyes open, his baby was still fighting.

The paramedics rushed out of the ambulance and instantly began prepping Mabel to get her stomach pumped, they put a tube down her throat so that she could still breathe as they tried to pump the dangerous amount of sleeping pills out of her.

Stan held her hand the entire time as he body jerked and reacted to the painful procedure. The way she squeezed Stan's hand gave him a much-needed reminder that she was still there.

As they began loading her onto the ambulance Ford and Dipper ran up terrified.

"MABEL!" Dipper screamed seeing his sister being put into the ambulance.

Mabel made eye contact with her twin brother and gave him a look of deep regret, she wished she were as strong as he was. She hated herself for not being strong enough to go through with the plan, she just prayed no matter what happened to her Dipper would forgive her and himself.

Ford ran up beside his brother and glanced down at his sweet little niece.

"Do you two have a way to get to the hospital? We can really only accommodate one additional family member at a time," the paramedic said addressing Ford and Dipper.

"They do now," a voice called as a luxury pink Cadillac pulled up front, "get in you two," she ordered in a voice that seemed authoritarian, but small and terrified all the same.

Dipper wanted nothing to do with the monster that caused all of this, but he also knew that she was the only way that he could get with his sister.

He and Ford loaded into the car silently as the double doors of the ambulance slammed and rushed towards the hospital.

Along the way the paramedics continued pumping Mabel's stomach, it was clearly uncomfortable, but it appeared to be working.

Finally Mabel's face turned a greenish color and the paramedics provided her a bucket to vomit into.

It was at that moment that Stan became certain that Mabel would pull through, he was so relieved as he kissed her forehead, while stroking her hair and providing soothing words to ease her back from her terrifying ordeal.

"That's my girl, that's my baby….my little fighter….my little miracle," tears of relief flowed from Stan's face.

Even though she knew he was crying tears of joy Mabel felt an overwhelming shame for putting her family through this pain, and the worst part was she would have to feel all of the consequences. She just knew that she had basically given herself an emotional death sentence, Janice would certainly take them away, she would probably ship Mabel off to a boarding school or somewhere that could handle such an emotionally unstable child, and Stan and Ford would probably be sent to jail anyways for non-existent neglect that drove her to this. She would have to live with her hurts and pains both that had passed and that were yet to come, but somehow as she felt the familiar and loving hand of her Grunkle Stan she realized that she would take the pain for the comfort of those who loved her.

She certainly had a lot going through her mind, but there was one thought that stood out among the rest. She looked up at the loving face of the man she would always consider her father and made an innocent plea.

"Can I sleep now daddy?"

Stan looked nervously at the paramedics who were monitoring her heart rate and blood pressure. They gave Stan a nod that communicated that Mabel was out of the woods enough to allow her to rest.

"Yes baby, you can rest now, I'll be right here watching over and taking care of you, and I'll be here when you wake up," Stan whispered.

Mabel knew she could trust him, and despite the horrors that she knew would await her upon her awaking, she was very grateful to be assured that she would in fact wake up.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they arrived at the hospital Mabel was fast asleep, completely exhausted. They had to take her back to get stabilized, and while Stan of course didn't want to leave her side for a second, he knew that she would be alright, which made it easier for him to cooperate. He had other members of his family he had to speak to anyway.

When Ford, Dipper, and Janice arrived they were in tears and deeply panicked, none more so than poor Dipper.

"Oh Stan it's all my fault! It….It was my stupid idea to go with Janice! Mabel and I just didn't know what else to do! We didn't want Janice to send you and Ford to prison, so we said we would go…..I thought Mabel would be ok, I was gonna take care of her….She wanted so bad to be strong but-" Dipper was sobbing so hard he couldn't even finish.

Stan pulled his son into a tight embrace as he rubbed the boy's back he and Janice exchanged guilty looks. They disagreed on so many things, but neither of them wanted to scare the kids so badly. They never meant for the kids to overhear them, but they weren't shocked considering how intense the argument was.

"It's okay bud, it's okay, Mabel's gonna be just fine….Everything will be just fine," Stan soothed.

"Yes, Ma-Dipper, Stan's right, everything will be fine," Janice agreed as she laid a hand on the boy's back. Dipper looked up at her as if seeing her humanity for the first time in his life.

Dipper tried to stop crying, but the emotion was just too strong. He clung tighter to Stan as he continued to sob. He finally caught his breath enough to speak.

"I…I know that you think Stan and Ford aren't good guardians and that me and Mabel aren't safe here, and this place can be crazy and unpredictable and even dangerous, but….but to Mabel and I….It's the closest thing to a home we've got, and….and I can't lose that," he whispered.

Janice looked at the boy and the two old men attempting to comfort him, and it finally hit her that while these old men were very different from her, their love for these kids ran deep, deep enough to give them the skills they would need to raise happy, healthy, and stable children. A love deep enough to work through the trauma they had endured.

Janice loved Dipper and Mabel deeply too, even if she had unorthodox means of showing it, she loved them enough to do the one thing she hated more than anything in the world. Admitting she was wrong.

"I'm sorry I tried to take that from you Dipper…you and Mabel have lost enough, and….well my home in Portland has a lot of priceless and breakable antiques, but that old shack, heck everything in there is cheap junk," Janice may know she was wrong, but that didn't mean she couldn't admit it in her own way.

Stan and Ford shot her annoyed glances until she spoke again, "it would probably be a wise investment to the whole family to have you and Mabel live in a place where you don't have to worry about constantly keeping the place clean, and not touching anything, so I guess despite my initial judgment a stuffy old shack is the most appropriate home for you two,"

It took a moment underneath her….creative….speech for Dipper, Stan, and Ford to realize what she meant.

"You mean we can stay in Gravity Falls with Stan and Ford?" he inasked hopefully.

Janice could only manage a nod before Dipper ran and embraced her like he never had before.

Janice smiled at the affection, she may be giving up the chance to be Dipper and Mabel's guardian, but in turn she finally earned their love.

She returned the hug and in typical Janice fashion instantly tried to play it off.

"You have no idea what this means to us Janice, thank you," Ford was shaking with joy and relief as he shook the woman's hand.

"Yes….well I think it's time I get back to Portland, now once Mabel is feeling better I expect all of you to come visit, just be sure to give me a few days notice so I can prepare myself,"

"Don't you want to stay and say goodbye to Mabel?" Dipper asked.

Her eyes misted as she tried shrugging it off, "I think the poor dear needs her rest now, I promise to call and check on her tomorrow," she began hurrying to the door to hide the fact that tears were building in her eyes. The truth was she just couldn't bear to see Mabel right now considering what Janice knew deep down she had done to her.

"Hey Janice," Stan called to her.

She turned around and stared at him.

"Look you may be a stuck up know-it-all," Stan started, Janice rolled her eyes.

"But like it or not you are technically a part of this here family, so….ya know if you are in the area…."

"I promise to visit," Janice said. She then gave Stan and Ford a look, but unlike all the other looks she gave them this one was filled with love, compassion and concern. It was a look that said to take care of Dipper and Mabel.

Stan and Ford gave her their own silent looks to ensure that they would.

And just as quickly as she had blown into their lives, she was gone.

At that moment the doctor walked out, it was the same doctor who had cared for Mabel and the Pines family during the fire. At least this time she could prepare for the bombardment.

"How's she doing doc?" Stan asked.

"She's really gonna be ok?" Dipper nervously inquired.

"Yes, we want to keep her overnight just to observe her, but as long as you promise to continue counseling with her she will be fine to go home in the morning,"

Stan and Ford nodded ensuring that they would do whatever it took for Mabel to continue healing.

The doctor smiled, "the poor thing is still so wound up from this evening, we tried to give her a small dosage of sleep medicine to calm her down, but she keeps asking for her daddies and her best friend,"

The three men managed to smile at each other wanting nothing more than to see their sweet Mabel.

When they got to her room they found her half asleep, but still whimpering and whispering.

"Dipper? Daddies? Don't wanna leave…..Please don't send me away," she moaned with her eyes still shut as she thrashed in her bed.

Stan went over and stroked her hair, while Ford grabbed her hand, and Dipper laid his head on his sister's chest, so thankful to hear her heartbeat.

"shh shh it's okay pumpkin, we're all here now," Stan soothed.

"That's right Mabel we aren't going anywhere," Ford assured.

"And you and I aren't going anywhere Mabel, Janice is gone, we're staying here with Stan and Ford," Dipper whispered.

Mabel's eyes cracked open as she looked at the blurry but loving faces of her family.

"I'm so sorry….I'm a coward," Mabel whispered in an understandable, but not entirely coherent voice.

"No baby, shhh" Stan whispered.

"Mabel you're the bravest person I know," Dipper assured.

"You've had a long night sweetheart, try to get some sleep, we are all right here, we are staying right here all night, we'll all talk about this tomorrow Mabel, as a family, because that's what we are," Ford said. He was amazed at how wonderful it sounded to honestly assure that the four of them were a family, after so many things had tried to take that away from them.

Mabel smiled at this too, and even though she had medicine to help her rest, she knew that from now on all of her real peace would come from being a part of this wonderful family.


End file.
